MARC LEPINE: CRIMINAL OR FOLK HERO?
Most folk heroes started out as criminals, so they say. In 1989, it was clear to most people what Marc Lepine was: a criminal and a mass murderer. Twenty years later, it has changed: it is far from clear now. The simple fact that his name has not been forgotten and that his visibility, dare we say popularity, has increased, says a lot not only about the man but about the general public and its perceptions.

Monday, August 10, 2009

GEORGE SODINI: A SLOPPY JOB, BUT VALID REASONS

So, George Sodini, the Health Club gunman, went on a rampage over sexual rejection on August 4th, 2009. Three women were shot and killed while in an exercise class at the LA Fitness Center in Bridgeville. Before opening fire on the aerobics class, George wrote about feeling lonely and rejected (characteristics that put him in the company of other mass killers whose isolation helped create a murderous cocktail). Sodini's deadly rampage at a suburban Pittsburgh health club shares threads with other massacres analyzed by psychiatrists and legal experts, who say the line between lonely and homicidal remains hard to place. "These people get into a very self-centered, self-aggrandizing psychotic path, that enables them to finally get the attention they crave".

The 48-year-old Sodini fatally shot himself after killing three women and wounding nine others attending a weekly Latin dance aerobic class. He produced three guns, firing indiscriminately after shutting off the lights. Police says Sodini didn't know his victims. His 4,000 words blog is a monthslong diary lamenting his wrongful rejection by American women and talking of his plans. In his Web diary, he wrote that his anger stemmed from unfulfilled desires. This is typical of such type of killing. The perpetrator wants everyone to understand and appreciate why he did it. In his mind, to kill other people and not just himself, sends a broader message. Many mass murderers feel rejected by a "pseudo community" that exists only in their minds. Chronic failures with women, these isolated loners "divert their masculinity into destructive episodes that make them significant and larger than life". And it works, then in the end: they end up really LARGER THAN LIFE.

And now the critique. Three handguns is too much to bring to a massacre (it is overkill), only three dead is too little to qualify for a substantial mass shooting, and 15 injured is much too much (it is unforgivable and sloppy). The number one rule of a shooting is to finish off the wounded, then it directly affects the final kill-count. At best this murder-suicide qualifies for an emotional butchery with perhaps traces of legitimate grievances, but which definitely lacks style and finesse. The gunman fired 52 shots before committing suicide. This is way too many for the poor kill-count. The only explanation could be that he was extremely nervous and emotional, or perhaps a very bad shot. Putting off the lights might have been a bad idea. Another thing, as he walked into the aerobics room, there were about 30 to 40 women exercising. One cannot help but wonder, three dead is an extremely bad result for such a shooting. Three guns, a lot of ammo and less than 10% hit. The only explanation is bad shooting, bad planification and no technique.

1- First cover the exits, confine the victims, theoretically there should be no escape.2- Good shooting techniques, immobilize your victims, for example: everyone on the ground.3- Finish off the wounded, maximize the killcount.

By these standards, the Dawson college shooting and this one are miserable failures.

As for his reasons: extreme sexual frustration. Quite understandable since most modern women are very disappointing in this regard. ''Girls and women don't even give me a second look", he says further. Small wonder, most women are so preoccupied with themselves and so selfish that they wouldn't notice anymone near them, even a threatening presence. He wrote: "Women just don't like me... ". How could they, they don't even like themselves! The blog explained his contemplating carrying out the shooting. Sodini's gripes were more about what he believed women owed him sexually and did not deliver. He was quite right since they rarely deliver anything (sexually or otherwise). The suicide note apparently complained about how he had never spent a weekend with a woman, vacationed with a woman, or lived with a woman, and his sexual experiences were limited. Here we must differ: this may be frustrating, but hardly to die for.

His on-line blog documented his growing rage with women for rejecting him: these millions of women who rejected him in the past. What is tragic here is that he functioned with old stereotypes and an old paradigma that don't apply anymore. The truth of the matter is that women have very little left to offer to modern enlightend men, sexually or otherwise. Hell, why do you think Japanese men are now dreaming of- and building female androids? Simply because women in the flesh do not satisfy them anymore. Don't blame them for not delivering, they simply cannot: ARE NOT ABLE TO anymore. Objectification of women? Certainly. Why do you think they train in that gym in the first place? Because they care about their good looks, in fact: it is all they care about. If Sodini had known that, his life would have been turned around. What could have saved this man's life and these women, would have been him joining a men's group. I recommend joining such a group to all potential mass killers.

2 comments:

Men have unrealistic expectations of women. Anglo-American women are selfish, misandrist narcissists. The man who thinks they are semi-divine avatars of love and understanding is living in a dreamworld. Sodini seemed to be looking for a soul-mate among these poisoned females and this led inevitably to despair.

THEY MAY DISAPPROVE OF THIS PAGE...

SPEAKING OF VIOLENCE...

WHICH ONE ARE YOU?

Yes, which one are you? For the most part, five groups of people are interested in the Marc Lepine phenomenon: feminists, real women, bleeding heart liberals, criminalists and masculists. All are welcome here to join and post. So which one do you belong to? Maybe the above does not describe you accurately though, and you would like perhaps to add a new category to the pool. Feel free to do so, even if you should be the only one in it. It says nowhere that one cannot be his/her own planet!